The present invention relates to an apparatus for removing undesirable products, for instance eggs or fruits, from a stream of products, as described in the introductory portion of claim 1.
It is generally known that the chain of food production is to be kept as clean and hygienic as possible. This means that with food processing equipment, measures have to be taken not only for cleaning parts in a simple manner with great regularity but especially also for preventing, from the beginning, any possible pollution. In the present case where products such as eggs or fruit are conveyed and sorted, this has resulted in the development of machines in which, already at the start of the path, undesirable products are removed by the sorting machine so that in the remaining part of the path the pollution is reduced very substantially.
An apparatus as mentioned hereinabove is known from U.S. Pat. No. 4,775,051, also from applicant. After supply of the eggs on an endless roller conveyor on which the eggs, while rotating, are, for instance, inspected for breakage, the eggs are transferred via a transfer element to an endless follow-on conveyor. During transfer, undesirable eggs can be removed, for instance those that have been found unsuitable because of a crack or attached dirt. This removing takes place by temporarily removing the transfer element from the path normally travelled. As a result, the transfer element is given the function of a trapdoor. In the three exemplary embodiments described, as transfer element a trapdoor, wire portion or a flap, respectively, is used. These transfer elements have a substantially fixed position in the continuous stream and are only removed therefrom, in particular folded away or pulled away, when a product has been found undesirable and is to be removed from the apparatus. Further, guides such as a turnstile or a push bar system are used, for guiding the eggs further to the follow-on conveyor as well as for positioning the eggs to be removed to the proper location for removal.